mply a grand old man--the first I
have ever known for whom the hackneyed phrase seemed to have been made,"
she asserted warmly. "If he has faults, I am sure they are nothing more
than gigantic virtues--the faults of a man who is too strong and too
magnanimous to be little in any respect."

The final half-square lay behind them, and Mrs. Honoria and the senator,
Gantry, Gordon and his wife, and the two Weatherfords, with one of the
marriageable daughters, were at the _cafe_ door waiting for the
laggards. Being in no proper frame of mind to enjoy a theatre supper
with another Weatherford attack as the possible penalty, Blount
reluctantly surrendered Patricia to Gantry, made his excuses, and went
to smoke a bedtime pipe in the homelike and democratic lobby.

With Patricia in town the "silver-tongued spellbinder of Quaretaro
Mesa," as _The Daily Capital_ called the railroad company's campaign
field-officer, would have been glad to evade some of the speaking
appointments; but since his engagements had been made some days in
advance, he was obliged to go.

On his return to the capital he was delighted to find the party of three
still occupying the private dining-room suite at the Inter-Mountain.
Arriving on a morning train, he was permitted to make the party of three
a party of four at the breakfast-table; and with Patricia sitting
opposite he was able to forget the strenuosities for a restful
half-hour.

Later, when he went to his offices in the Temple Court Building, the
strenuosities reasserted themselves with emphasis. Though he found his
desk closed, and was reasonably certain that he had in his pocket the
only key that would unlock it, he found his papers scattered in
confusion under the roll-top. A touch upon the electric button brought
the stenographer from the anteroom.

"Who's been into my desk, Collins?" he demanded, pointing to the
confusion and scrutinizing the face of the young man sharply for signs
of guilt.

"Goodness gracious! How could anybody get into it when you've got the
only key, Mr. Blount?" stammered the clerk. Then he went on,
parrot-like: "I've been putting the letters and telegrams through the
letter-slit, as you told me to, and I've kept the private office
locked."

"Nevertheless it is very evident that somebody has been here," said
Blount. Then he had a sudden shock and wheeled shortly upon the
stenographer. "Collins, what did you do with that packet of papers I
gave you last Monday--th